The Hi-Pointe CAFE/BAR is closing

jeff707 · PostAug 25, 2006#12006-08-25T20:39+00:00

Golly gee willickers.

Edit: for profanity.

steve · PostAug 25, 2006#22006-08-25T21:02+00:00

WHAT?? The theater or the bar? Where did you hear this?

markofucity · PostAug 25, 2006#32006-08-25T21:08+00:00

F%%$#@@ !!!

I'm cursing like Q-bert. I lovev that place.

nickfindley · PostAug 25, 2006#42006-08-25T21:09+00:00

Here.

brickandmortar · PostAug 25, 2006#52006-08-25T21:09+00:00

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

jeff707 · PostAug 25, 2006#62006-08-25T21:13+00:00

Gentrification bites back.

And it hurts.

Now I wonder where the Man Man show and Elf Power shows are going to be?!?!?

steve · PostAug 25, 2006#72006-08-25T21:24+00:00

Wow. That sucks.

She talked about closure due to "sale of the building?" Anyone know anything about that deal?

dweebe · PostAug 25, 2006#82006-08-25T22:51+00:00

There's also some sort of sign in the Subway sandwich shop in that building.

jeff707 · PostAug 25, 2006#92006-08-25T23:56+00:00

That's actually a different building.

trent · PostAug 26, 2006#102006-08-26T21:13+00:00

My first ever indie show was there. I went to see some highschool buddies play in a band in 1994.

jlblues · PostAug 26, 2006#112006-08-26T21:32+00:00

Very unfortunate. It was one of my favorite bars and always a huge hit with friends visiting from out of town. I suppose they will put a Starbuck's there.

Everything along that strip has closed fairly recently. I wonder if there is some large multi-parcel project in the works...

stlgasm · PostAug 27, 2006#122006-08-27T00:12+00:00

So is it just the bar or the theatre too? This is really sad... it's truly a landmark.

stlmike · PostAug 27, 2006#132006-08-27T03:46+00:00

It's just the bar. They are seperate places with seperate ownership.

10-intuition · PostAug 27, 2006#142006-08-27T04:14+00:00

STLgasm wrote:So is it just the bar or the theatre too? This is really sad... it's truly a landmark.

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was the theatre that was closing! I was just there last week to watch the film "Who Killed the Electric Car.":shock:

But this is sad, hopefully, something good goes into that space.

stellar · PostAug 29, 2006#152006-08-29T18:29+00:00

I know this will be considered controversial, but the St. Louis music scene is dying. I don't know the exact cause. Radio, promoters, venues? But the Hi-Pointe (any indie venue for that matter) closing is not a good sign. Look at magazines or MySpace and see all of the bands that are touring the country and NOT coming to St. Louis. If we are lucky they come to Columbia, MO. They are however playing Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville and Louisville. It'll bounce back some day, everything is cyclical, but I hope it happens sooner rather than later. Sorry to see the Hi-Pointe go.

markofucity · PostAug 29, 2006#162006-08-29T18:43+00:00

I agree with you overall ... but you should check out the Lucas Park School House. That venue is phenomemal. About the same size (concert area wise) as the highpoint too ....

debaliviere · PostAug 29, 2006#172006-08-29T19:02+00:00

stellar wrote:I know this will be considered controversial, but the St. Louis music scene is dying. I don't know the exact cause. Radio, promoters, venues? But the Hi-Pointe (any indie venue for that matter) closing is not a good sign. Look at magazines or MySpace and see all of the bands that are touring the country and NOT coming to St. Louis. If we are lucky they come to Columbia, MO. They are however playing Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville and Louisville. It'll bounce back some day, everything is cyclical, but I hope it happens sooner rather than later. Sorry to see the Hi-Pointe go.

Would you attribute bands bypassing St. Louis to Clear Channel's stranglehold on our main venues?

stellar · PostAug 29, 2006#182006-08-29T19:26+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:
stellar wrote:I know this will be considered controversial, but the St. Louis music scene is dying. I don't know the exact cause. Radio, promoters, venues? But the Hi-Pointe (any indie venue for that matter) closing is not a good sign. Look at magazines or MySpace and see all of the bands that are touring the country and NOT coming to St. Louis. If we are lucky they come to Columbia, MO. They are however playing Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville and Louisville. It'll bounce back some day, everything is cyclical, but I hope it happens sooner rather than later. Sorry to see the Hi-Pointe go.

Would you attribute bands bypassing St. Louis to Clear Channel's stranglehold on our main venues?

Not really. I'm talking about smaller bands/performers. Bands that bring in 500-1,200 people a night. Bands are touring even more now days because they are selling fewer albums. In the past a band would have a hit song and sell 100,000 cd's at $12.99-$15.99 each. Now they sell 100,000 individual songs at $.99 each. That means they need to tour more to make a living. Unfortunately those touring bands haven't discovered St. Louis yet. The scene might not be cohesive enough. I don't think that nationally st. louis is known as anything identifiable (college town, blue collar town, high tech town, etc.) that makes it difficult for booking agents to get a feel for what might work in our neck of the woods.

PostAug 29, 2006#192006-08-29T19:32+00:00

markofucity wrote:I agree with you overall ... but you should check out the Lucas Park School House. That venue is phenomemal. About the same size (concert area wise) as the highpoint too ....

I read a complimentary revue of the venue. Unfortunately my personal taste and their events have yet to match up.

jeff707 · PostAug 29, 2006#202006-08-29T19:40+00:00

These are shows that have recently occurred and are coming up. I am going to (or went to) the bolded ones. Seriously consiedering all the others.

7/28 Silver Jews

7/28 & 7/29 Rancid

8/4 Sparta

8/11 Frank Black

8/14 Of Montreal

8/15 Bonnie "Prince" Billy

8/24 Split Lip Rayfield - Duck Room

8/26 Sonic Youth and The Flaming Lips

8/26 The Lot Music Festival featuring Magnolia Summer, Shame Club, Murder City Players, Gentleman Auction House, Marquise Knox Blues Band, Nyquill of the Royal Illete and Fertilizer Bomb (I am putting this on)

8/29 - Decibully

9/6 - The Reverend Horton Heat

9/7 - Kings of Leon and The Stills

9/9 Smog - Duck Room

9/10 The Minus 5, Grant Lee Phillips and Glenn Kotche

9/11 The Supersuckers

9/14 Trachtenburg Slide Show Players

9/14 Muse

9/17 Built to Spill and Helvetia

9/19 - DRAGONFORCE

9/20 - Man Man

9/23 Calexico - Mississippi Nights (I will be in Las Vegas)

9/24 Sufjan Stevens *If I can find a ticket

9/27 Eric Bachmann and Richard Buckner

9/30 Ozolmatli

10/1 Big Star, Son Volt and The Legendary Shack Shakers

10/14 - Okkervil River (in NYC)

10/14 Two Cow Garage, Drag The River

10/20 Tapes N Tapes and Cold War Kids

10/25 Drive-By Truckers and The Drams

10/27 Joan Jett and The Eagles of Death Metal

10/29 - Trail of Dead and Blood Brothers

Not a bad fall. A lot of the clubs that have closed (Hi-Pointe and Rocket Bar) fell victim to being located in now desirable locations. The Hi-pointe's building is being converted to condos by its owner, not the people that run the club. It has nothing to do with the St. Louis scene being dead.

stellar · PostAug 29, 2006#212006-08-29T19:49+00:00

Jeff707 wrote:These are shows that have recently occurred and are coming up. I am going to (or went to) the bolded ones. Seriously consiedering all the others.

Not a bad fall. A lot of the clubs that have closed (Hi-Pointe and Rocket Bar) fell victim to being located in now desirable locations. The Hi-pointe's building is being converted to condos by its owner, not the people that run the club. It has nothing to do with the St. Louis scene being dead.

There are some good shows coming up. (Maybe I'll see you at that Tapes n' Tapes show). But many of my faves are not coming to STL. And I think that if the Hi-Pointe brought in more people on a regular basis it wouldn't be turned into condos. That's speculation since I don't actually know what the landlord is thinking. For me more venues=healthy scene. I do think that you, Jeff, are doing more than your fair share to build a healthy scene by getting the word out any way you can. Please keep up the good work.

debaliviere · PostAug 29, 2006#222006-08-29T19:55+00:00

Does the owner of the Hi Pointe have any plans to reopen elsewhere?

thewayofthearch · PostAug 29, 2006#232006-08-29T20:05+00:00

It would be great to see them do something like creepy crawl, move to the east loop (the old train station) or midtown...

stellar · PostAug 29, 2006#242006-08-29T20:09+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:Does the owner of the Hi Pointe have any plans to reopen elsewhere?

Lisa is 50 yrs old now and ready for other challenges in life.

jeff707 · PostAug 29, 2006#252006-08-29T23:27+00:00

Trust me, I agree more venues = a better scene. Although, I would say that a few well-run clubs, that are good to also hang out at on non-show nights, are better than a bunch of poorly-run clubs that are empty all the time.